Seconds of Insanity; A Lifetime of Pain and Expense

Violence seems to be reaching new heights in the City of Youngstown. Senseless acts of violence stream across evening news daily. One guy is shot down in his driveway. Another has his car riddled with bullets in the middle of the day. Much of it is black on black violence, but not all of it by any means. Here is an entire black family, little ones, killed in their sleep when a disgruntled white neighbor set fire to their house at five in the morning.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, a new low is hit. Joe Kaluza, a long time employee of Kentucky Fried Chicken and manager of a the KFC at Indianola and South Avenues, was making his trip out to Boardman to deposit his day’s cash receipts. A block from the restaurant, a car driven by a young black women, pulls out from a side street, passing him on left. It then pulls in front of him slamming on the brakes in order to cause Mr. Kaluza to crash into the back of the driver’s car. The woman then exits the car and approaches Mr. Kaluza and asks to use his cell phone. Meanwhile, another car pulls up behind Mr. Kaluza, and a young black man gets out of the car and approaches Mr. Kaluza from the other side of the vehicle, pulls a gun, and shoots Mr. Kaluza in the neck. The two then flee with approximately $300.00.

The whole thing was caught on tape by a camera mounted on a WRTA bus. The woman, Hattie Gilbert and her boyfriend Taran Helms, the shooter, now sit in jail and are awaiting whatever proceedings are to follow. According to Ms. Gilbert, this robbery was planned for some time with practice runs done actually following Mr. Kaluza several times in advance. It turns out that Ms. Gilbert’s mother worked for Mr. Kaluza sometime over the past year.

The consequences, however, are horrific. Mr. Kaluza survived the shooting, but is now paralyzed from the neck down, unable to breathe on his own. He and his wife are the parents of two mentally handicapped children, one of whom is an adult, both of whom live at home being cared for by their parents.

Here is what the Kaluza family, and society, is now facing. Mr. Kaluza’s life has been turned into a living hell needing continual and constant care. He will be eligible for workmen’s compensation, but that’s a spit in the ocean as to the costs he is going to be facing, not to mention the personal tragedy and horror of it all. His wife is now responsible for caring for 3 people, and it will be financially and physically impossible for her to do so. It seems almost impossible to imagine how she can do this without public assistance.

As to Ms. Gilbert and Mr. Helms, the state will appoint and pay lawyers to defend these dregs of society through trials then innumerable appeals. It will take up a court's time, and possibly a jury's. Then the state is going to have pay to “punish” these two scum bags in prison for a sentence that won’t be nearly enough because Mr. Kaluza survived the shooting. We don’t know if Ms. Gilbert or Mr. Helms have any children together or separately. If they do, the government will have to take care of them also.

This single, senseless act will likely cost the public treasury millions dollars over the course of the upcoming years. For the Kaluza family, the government and a generous public cannot do enough for them, and what we are able to do won’t come close to the quality of care and life they deserve. As to the thugs, any money spent on them is a waste. They are a public burden of the worst sort.

Senator Obama says he wants to have a frank discussion about race. So do I. Let’s start with this case.